


Forever Friends

by OfAllTheStarsAligned



Category: Being Human (US/Canada)
Genre: ALL IN THE PAST, Bisexual Male Character, Blood, Blood Drinking, F/M, Immortality, M/M, Pining, Talking About the Past, Tattoos, nothing graphic, symbolic tattoos, this is almost entirely dialogue im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 04:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15307605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfAllTheStarsAligned/pseuds/OfAllTheStarsAligned
Summary: The only thing Aidan's thankful for because of his vampirism is existing at the same time as them.





	1. I: The Past

“So, Aidan,” Sally said, “you have a tattoo, don’t you?”

 

Aidan looked over to her perch on the windowsill from where he sat on the couch. Josh raised his eyebrow to Sally.

 

“Yeah, I do,” Aidan motioned to his heart where is tattoo was, underneath his black shirt. “Right here.”

 

“Celine,” Josh said simply as he recalled the times he had seen tattoo.

 

“Who is she? Or… was she?” Sally asked.

 

“Is she… was she… I’m not sure,” Aidan began, voice quieter as he thought.

 

Josh and Sally glanced away from Aidan and to each other as they wondered how far Aidan would go with this memory. They knew he enjoyed talking about some parts of his past and others he would do anything to avoid, to hide, from them. They wondered which this would be. 

 

“Back in the 70s, we lived in Montreal together,” Aidan said.

 

“Montreal? Like, Canada?” Josh said incredulously.

 

Aidan simply nodded, “She was from Quebec,” he clarified. “We… we were in love.”

 

Sally and Josh smiled as they saw the faint, reminiscent smile growing on Aidan’s face.

 

“She was so beautiful, so kind, so smart, so caring. She was everything, but most of all, she was brave. I told her, about being a vampire, and she didn’t run away in fear, she was never scared. She always said she loved me too much to fear that.”

 

“I had run away from Bishop at the time and I was in hiding for 5 years. But… he found me there. I told Celine we should leave before he could hurt her, but she was unsure. She was terrified for her family. She wanted time to think, alone, so I told her I would meet her at the train station in a few hours, hoping she would agree…, but she never came. I haven’t seen her since.”

 

“You’ve been trying to get away from him for a long time, haven’t you?” Josh interrupted.

 

“I have…,” Aidan said quietly, “I tried to get away from him the moment he turned me, but I don’t think it’s ever going to work out like that. He knows me too well to let me go.”

 

“What’s it like?” Sally asked, causing Aidan to look over to her. “To live so long? To be immortal?”

 

“I’ve seen the good and bad of all people, so it’s hard to not be jaded. I have known every lover you could ever imagine, I’ve traveled the world in countless ways. Everyone I ever meet,” Aidan paused and looked from Sally to Josh with a sad, haunted look in his eyes, “I will lose.”

 

Josh knew that fact well, but still a wave of sadness washed over him as Aidan looked at him. He knew one day he would die, Sally would get her door, and Aidan would be left alone again. He knew this so intimately well, but still refused to believe it.

 

“How do you stand it?” Josh said, his voice wavering. “You… you told me when you were human you had a wife… a son.”

 

Sally gaped in shock, but said nothing.

 

Aidan nodded. “Suzanna and Isaac,” he answered, nearly in a whisper.

 

“What happened after you turned?” Sally asked.

 

Aidan looked down at his fists in his lap and said nothing. After a few moments of silence, he simply shook his head, unable to say anything.

 

“Sorry,” Sally whispered.

 

Aidan shook his head again before he looked up. “It’s fine, I’d just prefer not to talk about them.”

 

“That’s fine, we get it,” Josh said, trying to comfort Aidan.

 

“If relationships are so painful because you outlive everyone, why bother with them?” Sally asked. “If they make you so sad when they end, why do you keep doing it to yourself?”

 

Aidan smiled a little at that. “They are so upsetting and hurt so much because of how happy I was with them. Relationships with people, whether friendships or romantic, they help pass the time, make it easier. They’re what make my immortal life worth living. It’s sad to say goodbye, especially in the end, but that goodbye means so many more hellos.”

 

Josh chuckled. “Does gaining immortality immediately make you more poetic and dramatic or is that just you?”

 

Aidan simply laughed and shook his head.

 

“You seemed a bit hung up on _romantic_ relationships there. Has someone caught your eye?” Sally smiled.

 

Josh laughed and said, “Ohhh, Aidan. Finally over Rebecca are we? Who’s the lucky girl?”

 

A faint blush spread over Aidan’s pale face as he rubbed his neck.

 

“It’s not really that important,” he said.

 

“Aidan, come on. Listening to you and Josh’s drama is all I have going on,” Sally persisted.

 

“It’s not really drama it’s just, I don’t think it would work out,” Aidan said.

 

“Aw, why?” Sally said as she put on her best pout to try and get more information out of Aidan.

 

With a heavy sigh, Aidan replied, “I haven’t seen him in nearly 80 years and I don’t even know if he’s _alive,_ let alone where he is or if he thinks of me the same way.”

 

 _“80 years?”_ Sally said in shock.

 

Josh raised his hand a bit to put in his input, “Uh, ‘he?’”

 

Aidan’s blush became a deeper red as he realized what he said. “Um… yeah.”

 

“I never knew you- I thought,”

 

“I’m bisexual, Josh.”

 

“And you never told us?” Josh asked.

 

“Why? Is this going to change something between us?”

 

“No!” Josh exclaimed. “No, of course not. You’re my best friend, I’m just, kind of surprised.”

 

Aidan simply nodded and shrugged a bit.

 

"I've had a long time to figure myself out, Josh."

 

Josh failed to hold back a snort and a grin.

 

Sally smiled. “So… tell us about him!”

 

“And please tell me he’s a vampire and that I _don’t_ have to go find some, like, 100 year old man for you to bone,” Josh said.

 

“Yes, he’s a vampire.”

 

“Good, that makes this 80-years-lost-lover thing less weird.”

 

“I… We met in World War One,” Aidan started.

 

“Sentences like that remind me all over how old you are,” Josh interrupted.

 

Aidan looked over to Josh and raised his eyebrow, which drew a quick “sorry” from Josh.

 

“We met in World War One. I was a soldier and he was a medic. I had been shot several times and had been brought back to a tent. Another told him not to bother with morphine on me, because he was sure I was going to die by morning and he wanted to save it for soldiers who may live.”

 

“He turned to focus on someone else and I grabbed his arm. I told him to take the bullets out anyways, I said I didn’t want to die with them inside me. I actually didn’t want to heal and have them stuck inside me.”

 

“Yeah, that would suck,” Sally stated.

 

“So, he removed the bullets and told me to rest. I could see the pity all over his face, he was so sure I was going to die. He spent time reading Walt Whitman to me, I suppose trying to comfort me. I…” Aidan smiled to himself, “I asked him if he had any Zane Grey. He asked me if didn’t like Whitman and I said I liked him just fine.”

 

Josh and Sally smiled a little. Aidan liked to make very subtle jokes about how he knew historic people. Or just flat out say who he knew, if Josh decided to watch a history program while Aidan was home. Aidan had ranted about how Paul Revere was a massive tool for over an hour.

 

They also noticed how Aidan seemed to _refuse_ to say the man’s name.

 

They didn’t ask.

 

“Then, he noticed how fast I was healing. He called it a medical miracle and wanted to show a doctor.”

 

“Wait, he wasn’t a vampire already when you met him?” Sally asked. “If he was he would’ve known why you were healing so fast.”

 

“Did you _turn_ this guy?” Josh asked next.

 

“I’m getting to that,” Aidan said before he continued.

 

“I convinced him, or distracted him, from telling a doctor. He asked me how I survived out there, I said I killed them before they killed me. He told me he could never do it, he said he wished he had a tenth of what I had. Then he asked how it felt to take a life.”

 

Josh cringed at that.

 

“I told my medic he was a good man, and to be thankful that he didn’t know. He asked me how many I’d killed, and I told him I had lost track a long time ago.”

 

“Ominous,” Sally said.

 

Aidan simply shrugged a bit. “It’s the truth.”

 

“Before he could respond, my medic was pulled away to tend to an injured French soldier, because he could speak French. Another medic said they weren’t sure if he would make it, because he couldn’t stop the bleeding. Then, unknowingly, tossed a rag soaked in blood on the ground near me. Naturally, I knew I had to eat, so I did.”

 

“Unfortunately, a different Frenchman saw me. All that night he raved in French about how I was a monster, though no one but myself and the medic understood. When asked about it, He- … my medic said he was speaking gibberish, that it must’ve been shell shock.”

 

“He protected you?” Josh said.

 

Aidan nodded.

 

“That night, the Frenchman attempted to stake me. My medic got him off of me, yelling at him to stop as they struggled. They fell and my medic was impaled by the stake. All the way through.”

 

“Oh my god,” Sally and Josh said in unison.

 

“He begged me not to let him die. He was so scared and he was desperately grappling at the hope I truly was a vampire. I asked him if he didn’t want to die, to make sure. He nodded and I said to him that now he never would. I drank his blood, to gain strength before I…”

 

“Before you what? Turned him?” Josh asked.

 

Aidan avoided Josh’s and Sally’s eyes. “Before I slaughtered everyone in the medical tent.”

 

Aidan didn’t give them time to do anything other than openly gape before continuing.

 

“I turned him, the lone survivor, and helped him get his first drink.”

 

“My god, Aidan,” Josh started.

 

“I never said it was a very happy, non-bloody story.”

 

“No, I suppose you didn’t,” Josh said. “But slaughtering everyone in, what, I’m assuming a casualty clearing station? That isn’t like you.”

 

“It was back then. I’ve had near 100 years between then and now, Josh.”

 

Josh simply sighed.

 

“I hope you find this guy,” Sally said before Aidan and Josh could get into a spat about vampire ethics.

 

“Well, just in case I ever run into a mysterious man looking for you. What is his name?” Josh asked. “You avoided saying his name like the plague.”

 

Aidan simply shrugged a bit, not ready to explain himself.

 

“Henry.”


	2. II: The Sun

Aidan came home from his shift at the hospital, after a slight detour. He walked into the house and heard Josh and Sally in the kitchen. He silently walked into the kitchen, tugging at the sleeve of his long sleeved shirt.

 

Sally noticed him first and curled her legs up closer to her from where she sat on the counter, as if to give him room to pass by. She didn’t need to do that, they all knew, but simple things like that made Sally seem more solid.

 

Aidan walked past her and sat at the table, folding his arms in front of his chest.

 

“Any luck with your vampire boyfriend today?” Sally asked.

 

“No,” Aidan said with a small smile. “I think when I see Henry again it will be when he comes out of hiding, because he’s ready and feels safe.”

 

“Woah,” Josh raised his arms a bit. “ ‘Comes out of hiding?’ ‘When he feels safe?’ What exactly happened?”

 

“It's… a long story,” Aidan said. He didn’t want to think about that time. “To sum up, it was life or death for him. Either he left and went into hiding, or he would be killed.”

 

Sally raised her eyebrows. “Damn.”

 

Josh noticed Aidan absent mindedly rubbing his arm. Massaging it in a way one would if they were in pain. “You okay?” he said.

 

Aidan looked up. “Oh, yeah. I just…” he paused, collecting his thoughts. “After talking about Celine, I was thinking about this and finally made a decision.”

 

“Uh…” Josh said dumbly.

 

Aidan raised his arms and removed his shirt, setting it on the counter.

 

“Must you do this in the kitchen,” Josh said, mostly to himself.

 

“Woah, you got new tattoos?” Sally asked. “They healed fast! You didn’t have those yesterday.”

 

Aidan smiled to himself, temporarily in another time. “Yeah, the tattoo guy was wigged out too.”

 

Josh ignored Aidan’s outdated slang. “Why? I mean, they’re cool, but why?”

 

“Josh, you’re an idiot,” Sally said, “They’re for us, right Aidan?”

 

“Yeah, they are,” Aidan said.

 

“Really?” Josh said.

 

“The ocean is for Sally, because she’s strong and powerful, but loving and full of wonder.”

 

Sally smiled and flipped her hair, preening under the positive words.

 

“The moon is for Josh, because it, like you, is constantly changing, but is a constant in my life.”

 

Josh gaped openly for a moment, before closing his mouth and pressing his lips together, obviously fighting back tears.

 

“I’m sorry about the moon… I can change it if you want.”

 

“No, I love it,” Josh smiled. “I’m just glad you didn’t get a wolf.”

 

Aidan barked out a laugh. “Well, I knew you would hate that. I wanted to get tattoos to represent who you are to me, not what you are.”

 

“Did you intend to do the moon and the ocean? Like, the moon is what creates the ocean’s waves and the tides. They’re connected, like Josh and I are,” Sally said.

 

Aidan smiled. “Well, that wasn’t intentional, but I do like it.”

 

“You should get one,” Sally said, “to represent yourself in our little trio of friendship.”

 

Josh smiled a little. “What thing could represent Aidan?”

 

“A bat,” Aidan laughed, getting a slight shove from Josh.

 

“What about the sun? For the funny reason of the myth that vampires can’t go out in the sunlight and because the sun is old and strong. It’s wise and, overall, it’s the thing that brought us all together,” Sally thought aloud.

 

“The sun… I like that,” Aidan said.

**Author's Note:**

> aidans bisexual sorry i dont make the rules


End file.
